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Wildfires Caused Marie Osmond to Faint But They Did Far More Harm to the Poor and Minorities

Singer Marie Osmond drew a mix of sympathy and celebrity gossip when she fainted during a recent segment of ABC- TVs Dancing with the Stars twice. Osmond fingerpointed the wildfires that raged throughout Souther California as the culprit that triggered her many allergies and caused her to momentarily lose consciousness on the show. A chargrined Osmond explained that the air quality is really bad, but Osmond quickly recovered.

Osmonds fainting spell on the popular celeb dance show was the stuff of celebrity light chatter. But for thousands of children and older adults, mostly black and Latino, blacks, in South and Central Los Angeles the wildfires posed yet another dire threat to their health. The wildfires have have severely increased the risk of hospitalization and even death to those that suffer from chronic respiratory conditions. Scientists have long pointed to a direct connection between bad air quality and the increase in chronic respiratory ailments in poor inner city neighborhoods. The wildfires tossed into the air a lethal ozone stew of carbon dioxide, water vapor, carbon monoxide, particulate matter and other chemicals.

The grim stats on the toll that respiratory ailments take on the poor, and minorities are appaling. According to the Centers for Disease Control, blacks are six times more likely than whites to die from asthma, and are nearly four times more likely to be hospitalized for treatment for it than whites. Latinos and American Indians also have significantly higher rates of asthma than whites. Thats just the tip of the respiratory sickness iceberg for the poor.

Poor air quality in central cities also has increased coughing spasms, bronchitis, and chest ailments, and even tuberculosis. Even without the dire air quality threat posed by the wildfires to residents in South Los Angeles, children in these neighborhoods are at great risk. The estimate is that about one in four children in the U.S. are exposed to ozone levels that exceed the federal limits, most of those children reside in poor urban neighborhoods.
President Bush sent a phalanx of FEMA and Homeland Security officials, federal relief workers, fire fighting equipment to Southern California. He authorized millions to be spent on relief, recovery and rebuilding. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared that the state will commit full resources to aid the fire victims. Bush and Schwarzenegger said little about the health damage of the fires to the children and older adults in South and Central Los Angeles, let alone what federal and state resources they will commit to footing medical costs for treatment and prevention ailments for any increase in respiratory sickness in those areas.

The instant the fires began to rage out of control, Los Angeles County health officials quickly issued the standard health alerts that warned persons to stay indoors and avoid strenuous exercise. This was welcome and necessary but health officials did not indicate what if any extra steps theyd take to beef up medical personnel and provide additional treatment facilities and medicines at county hospitals and health clinics for the increase in fire related respiratory attacks.

Many residents in South and Central Los Angeles didnt wait for federal and state officials to act, they took matters into their own lungs. They donned surgical masks for protection against the horrible air. But this didnt do much good. The air contaminant particles are so small they pass through the filters. With each breath the tiny chemical particles in the smoke, burrow deep into the lungs, causing serious irritation, as well as mucous build-up and breathing problems.

But at least residents did recognize the severe risk, and were willing to take some action to try and protect their health. Bush and federal officials will pump millions into the rebuilding of homes and restoring personal property in the outlying areas of Los Angeles. The big question is will some of those dollars go toward meeting the needs of those hard hit by fire related respiratory ills in South Los Angeles? Thats not the stuff of glitzy photo-ops or sweeping declarations by politicians about beating back a crisis, but it is a matter of life and death for the poor.

Your line of reasoning seems easy enough to follow: As long as there is a disaster that indiscriminately affects people of all races, poor black people deserve a special bonus payout because no one thinks of them in the first place?
According to you, there is no disaster, no prank, no allegation that does not merit a financial lottery payday for your poor black constituency. Keep up the good work of asking for reparations in one form or another!! But don’t expect us to love you in the morning after we pay you your ill-gotten gains.